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Rep. McKinley's constituents call him out
for standing with corporate interests

Little Blue Run Dam and reservoir, as
viewed from the International Space
Station, is the largest coal ash pond in
the country. Materials suspended in the
water give it a striking, turquoise
color. (April 2002, NASA)

It’s inspiring to see the commitment of Rep. David
McKinley’s constituents
living in the shadow of First Energy’s behemoth
1,000-acre Little Blue Run waste dump continuing to
speak the truth amid the lies flaunted by corporate
interests. Steve and Annette Rhodes, life-long residents
of West Virginia, describe the stark and unfortunate
reality of living near a toxic coal ash dump and debunk
the many falsehoods spouted by Rep. McKinley in their
recent piece in The Hill,
Rep McKinley We Live Here with the Coal Ash. They
are also quite clear that the coal ash amendment (Title
V of HR 4348) pushed by Rep. McKinley is an
overzealous attempt to jam a controversial public health
loophole into an unrelated transportation bill.

Rep. McKinley is a
broken record when it comes to citing flawed
industry reports and ignoring the public health and
environmental impacts of his dangerous provision. He
consistently turns a blind eye to repeated private and
public requests for relief from his constituents who
live in the shadows of the
largest toxic coal ash pond in the U.S. His
constituents have
testified before Congress, been
quoted in the WV press,
national press and elsewhere complaining of
contaminated water flowing onto their properties,
noxious odors and tainted soil.

Chester, WV, where the Rhodes live, borders Little
Blue Run. The dump holds approximately 20 billion
gallons of toxic sludge and is held back by a 400-foot
earthen dam—the tallest of its kind in the U.S. It
straddles the border between West Virginia and
Pennsylvania and looms over Ohio. It’s rated a
high hazard dam by EPA and is expected to kill
upwards of 50,000 people in Ohio if it were to fail.
According to the EPA, contaminated water from Little
Blue Run has been dousing properties at a volume equal
to seven fire hoses and arsenic has been migrating into
Marks Run, a local stream.

Little Blue Run is the largest coal ash pond in the
US. It straddles the border between West Virginia
and Pennsylvania and looms over Ohio. The coal ash
dump is 1000 acres, holds approximately 20 billion
gallons of toxic sludge and is held back by a
400-foot earthen dam—the tallest of its kind in the
U.S.

The article highlights that Rep McKinley's dangerous
provision has been
connected to the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC). Not only is ALEC pushing coal ash
legislation that is very similar to Rep. McKinley’s
bill, the group has been doing corporate legislative
bidding on everything from Stand Your Ground to voter
suppression laws.

The Rhodes also point out that Rep McKinley is
misleading the public about the content and intent of
his legislation. Despite his
false claims, his amendment does not set federal
minimum safeguards for coal ash disposal and will
“forever prohibit the EPA from ever providing such
protections, even if the threat to public health
increases.”

The Rhodes’ piece underscores the danger of not
having federal coal ash protections. As demonstrated by
their situation, states like West Virginia aren’t
protecting their citizens from this toxic threat.
Thankfully, the Administration and conferee Sen. Jay
Rockefeller (D-WV) are publicly opposing Rep. McKinley’s
legislation.

Former Republican Congressman and current Secretary
of Transportation Ray LaHood states that the
Administration
opposes this amendment because it “undermines the
federal government’s ability to ensure that requirements
for management and disposal of coal combustion residuals
are protective of human health and the environment.”
Sen. Rockefeller has
stated, “coal ash and two other environmental
provisions were added to the otherwise empty House
highway bill in order to create controversy, not to
solve problems.”

The transportation package should be about creating
American jobs, not placing families like Steve and
Annette's indefinitely at great risk.

Please take action
here to help keep coal ash out of the transportation
bill.

I’d like to thank Lisa Graves-Marcucci and Lisa
Widawsky Hallowell at the Environmental Integrity
Project for their assistance with this post.

Author: Emily
Emily Enderle is the environmental health advocate in the Washington D.C. office of Earthjustice, the nation's largest environmental non-profit law firm. Emily works to uphold and strengthen environmental statutes that protect people from dangerous pollutants, including arsenic, mercury and greenhouse gases.